A court Wednesday sent IAS officer Sanjay Pratap Singh and his personal assistant Ramesh Kumar, arrested for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 2.2 lakh, to one-day CBI custody even as the Delhi government moved for the bureaucrat’s suspension.

The special CBI court rejected the agency’s plea for seven-day police custody of the senior bureaucrat in Delhi government and Kumar and directed both the accused be produced before it Thursday. Singh, principal secretary in the department of welfare of scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and minorities, and Kumar were arrested Tuesday.

The CBI recovered 31 gold bars, weighing 3.20 kg and worth over Rs 82 lakh, from one of the five lockers of Singh, reported PTI. It quoted sources as saying that the recoveries made from his house revealed he was leading a chic lifestyle, as the agency found 300 bottles of high-end liquor, and expensive watches.

CBI sources claimed, so far, documents related to eight properties in posh areas such as Safdarjung Enclave, Sector 56 in Gurgaon, Sector 44 and Sector 50 of Noida, and high-end construction in Greater Noida which is worth around Rs 20 crore, had been recovered by the agency. Fixed deposit receipts of more than Rs 1 crore were found during searches yesterday. Sources claimed the locker opened was jointly in the name of Singh, a 1984-batch IAS of AGMUT cadre, and his wife, added the PTI report.

The Delhi government wrote to Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to suspend Singh. “We want to give a clear message to officers involved in corruption that they won’t be spared. Agar bhrashtachar karoge toh ulta taang denge, chhodenge nahi (If you indulge in corruption, we will take strict action, not spare you),” said Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia. He said the government had its eye on some “cutting-edge” officers. Sources said nearly 20 officers, including those at district-level, were on the government’s radar.

“We want corrupt officers out of Delhi. We don’t care if the MHA suspends them or sends them elsewhere. If they want to work in Delhi they cannot be corrupt,” said Sisodia.

The complainant in the case is owner of a firm that provided security guards to Singh’s department.

The complainant J K Vishwas, an AAP supporter, said Singh had not cleared bills for pay of security guards for two months and had demanded the bribe.